State Water Resources Control Board: drinking water.

The California Safe Drinking Water Act (state act) provides for the operation of public water systems and imposes on the State Department of Public Health various duties and responsibilities. Existing law requires the department to conduct research, studies, and demonstration projects relating to the provision of a dependable, safe supply of drinking water, to adopt regulations to implement the state act, and to enforce provisions of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. This bill would transfer to the State Water Resources Control Board the various duties and responsibilities imposed on the department by the state act. The bill would require these provisions to be implemented during the 2014–15 fiscal year. The Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Law of 1997 establishes the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to provide grants or revolving fund loans for the design and construction of projects for public water systems that will enable suppliers to meet safe drinking water standards. Under that law, the department is responsible for administering the fund. This bill would also transfer to the state board the authority, duties, powers, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction of the department for the purposes of that law. The bill would require these provisions to be implemented during the 2014–15 fiscal year. This bill would require the California Environmental Protection Agency, in consultation with the California Health and Human Services Agency, to prepare a project initiation document for the transfer of the state drinking water program of this part from the State Department of Public Health to a Division of Drinking Water Quality of the State Water Resources Control Board, to be delivered to specified legislative committees by April 1, 2014, and included in the May Revision of the 2014−15 fiscal year budget.